The Government has been urged to take concrete steps to unshackle Kenya’s food chain from corporations out to make a kill out of the sector.
Borrowing from President Dr William Ruto’s commitment to recognising agriculture as a potential cog in driving the economy of the country, Greenpeace Africa says it is time the State supported farmers to increase productivity and save the nation’s dependency on imports.
“As a trained scientist and a PhD holder in plant ecology, we expect President Ruto to make the right decision on food matters that will bring an end to the recurrent hunger situation in the country. The true solution to food security and sovereignty lies in our farmers controlling and breeding their own seeds,” says Claire Nasike through a press release.
Nasike has similarly advised the government to protect local food production through measures that will enable farmers exchange homegrown seeds.
She says small-scale farmers often rely on informal locally managed seed systems where farmers exchange indigenous seeds with each other.
The official argues that with 78 per cent of the seeds planted in Kenya being from informal seed systems, there is need for President Ruto to amend seed laws that prevent smallholder farmers from sharing, selling and exchanging indigenous seeds.
“The government needs to support farmers to access water during the drought periods to enable adequate food production. Provision of agricultural extension services, proper infrastructure and sufficient storage facilities to minimise food wastage are critical to solving perennial hunger in the country and not GMOs,” added Nasike.
Greenpeace Africa has also asked the government to rescind its decision on lifting a decade old moratorium on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and seek alternative remedies to Kenyans frequent food shortage.
The lobby group says this will augur well with this year’s World Food Day celebrations (held on October 16) whose theme is: ‘Leave no one Behind: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life.’
“This World Food Day, we urge president Ruto to immediately reinstate the ban on GMOs, support farmer managed seed systems as well as focus the country’s resources into looking for long-term and sustainable solutions to issues affecting food security and agricultural productivity in Kenya,” adds Nasike.
The cabinet lifted the 2012 ban on importation of GMO into the country on October 3 this year to help address a severe food shortage that has left 3.5 million Kenyans in 23 counties on the brink of starvation.
Since then, the landmark decision has stirred a storm in the country with leaders and stakeholders in the food chain reading from different scripts.
Already eleven lobby groups have waded into the ongoing discussion in regard to the lifting of the ban questioning the health safety implications of the GMO products.
The nongovernmental organizations have faulted the decision by the Head of State to allow the importation of GMO products into the country until concerns raised by Kenyans are settled in total.
In a statement sent to media houses, the lobby groups who include BIBA-Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya and Route to Food Initiative (RFTI) allege there was an unnecessary rush in reversing the moratorium and want a constructive dialogue with both the public and food safety experts before the country can come up with an informed decision on the matter.
“We need to protect our local and indigenous seeds as envisioned in Article 11(3) b of the Constitution 2010 and embrace safe and sustainable food production approaches such as agroecology. We demand that the ban (on GMO) be immediately reinstated and an inclusive participatory process be instituted to look into long-term and sustainable solutions to issues affecting food security and agricultural productivity in the country,” reads part of their five -point recommendation.
The lobbyists also want a review of the biosafety policy in the country through setting up of a robust monitoring mechanism to aid in redress should the GMO products cause harm to either humans or the environment.
In addition, the group has asked the State to ensure there is a transparent and mutually beneficial partnership among all relevant stakeholders to avoid a situation whereby small-scale food producers are disadvantaged by unscrupulous multinationals out to make a kill out of the current food crisis in the country.
“Economic partnership and technology transfer agreements should be transparent, mutually beneficial and strive to solve the problems of local small-scale farmers. They should also take into account local socio-economic and socio-political situations rather than advance a colonial multinational profiteering and dumping of goods model,” adds the report.
Kenya is facing one of her worst food crises in decades following four consecutive failed rain seasons. This situation has pushed more than 4 million Kenyans to the brink of a humanitarian crisis with hundreds of animals already reported to have died in the former Northern Frontier Districts.
Already the Government has kicked off the process of distributing relief food to the affected counties even as some leaders urge Dr Ruto to declare the current drought a national disaster.
World Food Programme Representative and Country Director for Kenya Lauren Landis in a statement to mark this year’s World Food Day says the international community is solidly behind the country in providing relief help to starving communities including scaling up food distribution.
She has nevertheless called for a shift in alternative food rearing mechanisms including adoption of drought resistant crops able to withstand the adverse effects of global climatic changes.
“Humanitarian assistance alone will never be enough in Kenya’s increasingly dry and drought-prone climate. The key to better nutrition lies in profound agricultural shifts, such as adoption of drought-tolerant crops and water-efficient farming techniques; production of more nutritious crops like high-iron beans; improving postharvest storage; enhancing processing; reducing food losses; improving food safety; and establishing better connections to markets so that a wide range of fresh foods reach consumers in good condition-with the nutrients intact,” she said.
